End closure for cylindrical can



June 4, 1968 M. JACOBSEN 3,335,615

END CLOSURE FOR CYLINDRICAL CAN Filed Jan. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR KJELL M. JACOBSEN June 6 I K. M. JACOBSEN 3,386,615

END CLOSURE FOR CYLINDRICAL CAN Filed Jan. 21, 1965 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR KJELL M. JACOBSEN BY 7; Mm M M/ Mm 2 [L ATTORNEYS,

United States Patent 3,386,615 END CLOSURE FOR CYLINDRICAL CAN Kjell M.Jacohsen, Hohog, Sweden, assignor to AB Platmanufaktur, Malmo, SwedenFiled Jan. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 427,187 Claims priority, applicationSweden, Mar. 4, 1964, 2,642/64 Claims. (Cl. 220-67) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Disclosed herein is an end closure for cylindrical cans ofthe type which are to be evacuated and/ or partially filled with gasprior to the sealing thereof. The end closure includes a central panelportion, a generally tubular portion extending from the periphery of thepanel portion and a radially outwardly directed flange which is to beseamed to a corresponding flange on the can body. A plurality of groovesare formed in the closure and extend between the tubular portion and theflange for providing a separation between the container body and theclosure member for the passage of gases therethrough. The grooves extendonly partially along the length of the tubular portion and onlypartially radially outwardly along the flange and may be of varyingconfigurations.

The present invention relates to an end closure for a cylindrical can,and, while adaptable for more general uses, is particularly applicableto coffee cans.

Cans are usually supplied to a coffee wholesaler closed in one end andwith the cover separate. At the wholesalers, the cans are first filledin modern, rapidly operable machines. When this has been done, thecovers are placed on the cans in these machines, but before the coversare seamed on in the conventional manner, the cans are evacuated and,possibly, filled with some sort of gas. Said evacuation and gas fillingtakes place very rapidly, as is well known. When this has been done, thecovers are seamed onto the cans, as stated. Cans of the abovementionedkind, which are supplied to the wholesaler, are provided with outwardlyturned flanges intended to be rolled or turned into closure securingseams with the flanges of the complementary covers.

In order to be able to carry out said evacuation and, possibly, saidfilling of gas, it is necessary, when the cover is placed loosely on thecan, that there be provided a space between the upper edge of the canand its complementary cover. In an effort to obtain this desired space,a number of depressions have hitherto been stamped in the flange of thecover, intended to bear against said flange of the can in a manner forproviding the desired narrow space. This procedure has functioned fairlywell, although there have sometimes been difliculties involved inpositioning said depressions so that said space is formed.

As it is a desire to keep the cost of each can as low as possible,thinner and thinner material has come into use in the making of cans. Aconsequence of this is that when such cans are worked upon in modernfilling and closing machines, in spite of said depressions, the flangeof the can will be formed around said depressions in such a manner thatthe passage desired is not assured, and the can has such a contact witha cover which has not been seamed on that difliculties often arise inevacuating the can and, possibly, filling it with gas.

A purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem which hasarisen in conjunction with the adoption of thinner materials in themanufacture of cans.

According to the invention, the problem is solved in such a way that thecover is provided with grooves. Such a cover consists of a circularpart, from the periph- "ice ery of which a tubular part extends endwiseor axially. From the free end of the tubular part, a peripheral flange,in turn, extends outwardly in the general plane of said circular part.Said grooves have the character of depressions, each groove originatingfrom the inside of the tubular part and extending axially all the way tothe free edge of the tubular part, and from there radially to a pointbetween the inner and outer peripheries of the flange.

With the above and other objects in view which will more fully appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by followingthe description, the appended claims, and the several views illustratedin the accompanying drawings.

In the following, a known can with cover, as well as a can with coveraccording to the invention, will be shown and described. In thedrawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a can with cover, before it hasbeen seamed on, the cover being shown spaced above the open top of thecan.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary radial sectional view taken throughthe cover and a portion of the flanged open top portion of the can ofFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 and illustrating a cam and covercomplement embodying the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 and illustrating the can andcover structure of FIGURE 3.

FIGURES 5 and 6 each shows in perspective a fragment of 'a cover, aslightly modified] shaping of the grooves being illustrated in eachview.

In the following, it is assumed that both the cans and the covers are tobe made of thin metallic material. However, it should be obvious thatthe invention is applicable also to other materials; thus, for instance,the end closure can be made of metal and the can body of some othermaterial, e.g. plastic, paper or some other suitable material.

FIGURE 1 shows a can 1, provided with a bottom 2. The body of the can isfolded or turned outwards at the top, so that a flange 3 is formed.Above the can, a cover 4 is shown, which consists of a circular centralpart and a tubular part 5, extending axially away from the periphery ofthe circular part. A flange 6 extends outwardly from the upper edge ofthe tubular part. In the circular flange .surfiace there are 'a numberof depressions arranged and positioned in such a way that, when thecover 4 is placed lightly on the can, said depressions will rest againstthe flange 3 of the can, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 2. In this way,air channels to the inside of the can are obtained.

Said cover 4 can appropriately be pressed from a round blank.

It now, the above-mentioned cover is made of thin material, the flange 3of the can will take on a form to fit the different depressions, and theair passages desired from the outside to the inside of the can willthereby be choked up.

In the filling and closing machines which are used, the pressure towhich the cover and can are subjected is quite considerable.

FIGURE 3 again shows a can 1 with a bottom 2 and a flange 3, of the samekind as the one shown in FIG- URE 1. However, the cover 4 in the presentfigure is different, in that it has grooves 7 instead of saiddepressions. The grooves 7 emanate from points on the inner surface ofthe body 5, along one and the same circular line. The grooves extendaxially towards the upper edge of the tubular part, with an increasingwidth. From said edge, each groove extends radially outwardly in saidflange, and with a decreasing width, to a point in a circular, line. Thepoints of all such grooves extend to said circular line. Each groove 7has a depth from one end which increases to the edge between the tubularpart 5 and the flange 6. From said edge and in the flange 6, each groovehas an outwardly decreasing depth.

By giving the grooves said form, it has proved possible to maintain thepassages desired between the inside and outside of the can, in theaforementioned modern filling and closing machines.

It has also been found that, during the seaming on of the cover, saidgrooves 7 can be smoothed out completely, which is an extremely greatadvantage in that the can will then be given a more attractiveappearance.

FIGURES S and 6 show two diflerent, alternative designs of grooves.These grooves have been given the reference designations 7' and 7",respectively. In these examples of groove shape modification it will berecognized that the radially projected end extremities of the grooves 7'of FIGURE 5 are less sharply angled than are those of FIGURE 3, and inFIGURE 6 the grooves 7" are shown as having parallel or generallyparallel sided radially projected walls and well rounded inner and outerend extremities.

It should be obvious that the before mentioned grooves can be given anydesired form, on the condition that the desired passages are assuredlyformed, and on the conditions that the grooves are smoothed out duringthe seaming operation. However, a further condition is that the groovesfirst extend along a tubular body surface and thereafter outwardly in aflange surface.

While preferred forms of the novel closure structure {have beendisclosed in detail herein it is to be understood that variations inshaping and placement of the grooves may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An end closure for attachment to a cylindrical can provided at oneend with an outwardly turned flange, said end closure comprising acircular part, a tubular part extending axially away from the peripheryof the circular part and a peripheral flange extending radiallyoutwardly from said tubular part at the end thereof remote from saidcircular part, a number of grooves, in the form of depressions formed insaid end closure, each of said grooves emanating from a point on theinner surface of the tubular part intermediate the ends thereof andextending axially all the way to said end of the tubular part remotefrom said circular part, and from there radially outwardly in saidperipheral flange to a point thereon between the inner and outerperipheries of said peripheral flange.

2. An end closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the pointson the inner surface of the tubular member from which said groovesemanate are on one and the same circular line.

3. An end closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the pointson the peripheral flange to which said grooves extend are on a circularline.

4. An end closure according to claim 1, wherein the depth of each ofsaid grooves is least near the points on said inner surface from whichsaid grooves emanate and the points on said peripheral flange to whichsaid grooves extend and greatest at said end of said tubular part remotefrom said circular part.

5. An end closure according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section areaof each of said grooves is generally triangular.

6. An end closure according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section areaof each of said grooves is generally triangular with straight sidesjoined by a well rounded apex.

7. An end closure according to claim 1 wherein the cross-section area ofeach of said grooves is an outwardly opening are.

8. An end closure according to claim 1 wherein the closure is formed ofthin metal, said grooves being deformable for the smoothing out thereofduring the seaming on the closure on a flanged can body.

9. An end closure according to claim 1, wherein the depth of each ofsaid grooves is least near the points on said inner surface from whichsaid grooves emanate and the points on said peripheral flange to whichsaid grooves extend and greatest at said end of said tubular part remotefrom said circular part, said closure being formed of thin metal, saidgrooves being deformable for the smoothing out thereof by stresses setup in the seaming on of the closure onto a flanged can body.

10. An end closure according to claim 1, characterized in that thepoints on the inner surface of the tubular member from which saidgrooves emanate are on one and the same circular line, and the points onthe peripheral flange to which said grooves extend are on a furthercircular line.

11. An end closure according to claim 10, wherein the depth of eachgroove increases from each of said circular lines in a direction towardssaid end of said tubular part remote from said circular part.

12. An end closure according to claim 10, wherein the depth of eachgroove increases from each of said circular lines in a direction towardssaid end of said tubular part remote from said circular part, saidclosure being formed of thin metal, said grooves being deformable forthe smoothing thereof by stresses set up in the seaming on of theclosure onto a flanged body.

13. An end closure for a can comprising a central panel portion, agenerally tubular portion extending axially from the periphery of saidpanel portion and a peripheral flange protruding generally radiallyoutwardly from said tubular portion at the end thereof farthest fromsaid central panel portion, a plurality of grooves interconnecting saidtubular portion and said flange, said grooves extending only partiallyacross said flange and only partially along the axial length of saidtubular portion.

14. An end closure according to claim 13 wherein said flange includes acontinuous planar portion disposed radially outwardly from said grooves,and said tubular portion includes a continuous smooth generallycylindrical surface displaced axially from said grooves and adjacentsaid central panel portion.

15. An end closure for a can comprising a central panel portion, agenerally tubular portion extending. axially from the periphery of saidpanel portion, a peripheral flange protruding generally radiallyoutwardly from said tubular portion at the end thereof remote from saidpanel portion, and a plurality of grooves emanating from points on saidtubular member and terminating at points on said flange, said groovesbeing of least depth near said points on said tubular member and saidpoints on said flange and gradually increasing in depth toward said endof said tubular portion remote from said panel portion.

References Cited THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

JAMES R. GARRETT, Examiner.

